Lubricator



K. E. IBERRAIY 1,991,722

LUBRI OAT OR Feb. 19, 1935.

Filed Nov. :0, 1952 6 Fig.3. Z1 ,5 23 a 56 2s 33 .35 .25 33 34 Wm .n 26 2'6 30 w 30 Q 6 kg 52 "-32 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATOR Kenneth E. Berray, Lockport, N. Y.

Application November 30, 1932, Serial No. 645,011

9 Claims. (01. 123-196) This invention relates to a lubricator and more lling at low speed and the feed of liquid to the particularly to a lubricator adapted to be used intake manifold is reduced. in conjunction with the intake manifold of an The body 5 of the oiler can be made of any internal combustion motor d hi h mix a, suitable material such as a phenol-formaldehyde small quantity of liquid with the gas passing condensation product and is formed to provide a 5 through the intake manifold so that the liquid flange 6 through which screws 7 pass for attachis drawn into the combustion chambers or cyling t e dy 5 t th y der b eek (not shown) ders of the motor along with the explosive charge. of the meter 0 y Other adjacent stationary Such liquids generally comprise an oil which lupp A i s Outer e the y is formed bricates the valves and valve seats and other to p ad w wa d y facing internally adparts and prevents the deposit of carbon thereed mouth 8 into which the threaded neck 9 of on and may also contain other compounds which a metal can or reservoir 10 is screwed, a suitable neutralize any acids formed during combustion, s t 11 being p d d b tween the eck Of the retard detonation so as to prevent knocking of n d th er d of e ce a best the motor and also act to prevent the formation shown in g- Air at atmospheric Pressure is 15 of carbon in such form that it will adhere to a ed to the ca or reservoir 1 y ea s of the valves, valve seats, piston, spark plugs or ina Vent 12 in the y 5 which Ve ads from terior of the combustion chamber, the atmosphere to the upper end of the recess 8.

As is well known, the vacuum or depression in The y 5 is P d d wit a a r inlet 13 2 the intake manifold of an internal combustion in wh ch a e a ively large p u of e 14 is placed motor varies inversely with the motor speed. so that the drawn into the y 5 is fi s Thus, when a motor is travelling at very slow speed eleened- This Passes through a p 5 of y or i id i th vacuum i th i tak manifold small diameter and into a horizontal conduit 16. is much greater than when the motor is trave1 In passing from the small P 15 to the horiling at high speed when the Vacuum in the 20111231 conduit 16 a small amount Of liquid from 25 intake manifold is comparatively small. the reservoir 10 is picked p by a s wh ch are It is an object to provide an oiler of this charac- Preferably s ueted as follows: ter which feeds greater amounts of the liquid Molded in the y 5 Within the threaded eat higher engine speeds, r, in oth r w ds, feeds cess 8 is a metal sleeve 1'7 which communicates greater amounts of liquids as the motor speed inwith the conduit 16. In this sleeve 17 is fitted a 30 creases and as the vacuum in the intake manifold tube 13 Which extends downwardly inte the y de re s, 19 of oil or liquid within the reservoir 10. Ad-

Another purpose is to efiect this result through jacent to the bottom of the reservoir or can 10 the variation in the vacuum or depression in an inverted cup 0 esp 20 is ed t e lower 5 the intake manifold, or, in other words, to proend of the tube 18 and in this inverted cup or cap 5 vide a valve which opens as the vacuum in the 20 a filtering p of felt 21 is p s ed. In the i t k manifold l s ns, tube 18 is arranged a piece of wire 22 the presence Another object is to provide such an oiler which of which causes an elevation of the liquid in the can be made at extremely low cost and will give can 10 D the tube 8 a d und the wire 22 satisfactory and efficient service for a long period through t difference between the atmospheric 40 of time notwithstanding the vibration to which pressure on the oil in the oil reservoir and the it is constantly subjected. sub-atmospheric pressure in the passage 16 and In the accompanying drawing: also through the capillary action of the wire 22 Figure 1 is a vertical, longitudinal section in the tube This liquid, p reaching the through an oiler embodying my invention and top of the tube 18 is drawn into the air stream 45 showing its connections with the motor block P s from the small p 5 t0 the horizontal and with the intake manifold of an internal eendllit The new of Oil of the capillary tube combustion motor. 18 is principally influenced by the difference be- Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section tween the atmospheric pressure on the oil in the similar to Fig. 1 showing the position of the parts reservoir and the Pressure in the pass 0 eham- 50 when the motor is travelling at a high speed and her 16, which latter is in turn determined by a comparatively large quantity of liquid is being the manifold depression and the resulting action fed into the intake manifold. of the diaphragm valve hereinafter. described. Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing The pressureinthe passage 16 is always less than 65 the position of the parts when the motor is travatmospheric whenever the motor is running and a sub-atmospheric pressure exists in the intake manifold and therefore theresulting flow of oil through the capillary tube 18 is always in proportion to the degree that the pressure in the passage 16 is below atmospheric pressure.

The air laden with liquid then passes into a valve chamber 23 and past a series of thin phosphorbronze valve disks 24. These valve disks are in the form of thin phosphorbronze washers having openings in their centers and some of which are troughed, as best shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, six of such washers are preferably employed, the center two being perfectly flat while the outer two at each side are troughed so that their centers bulge outwardly. These washers are adapted to be compressed by a plunger 25 which slides in the valve chamber 23 and has a reduced end 26 which bears against the endmost spring washer 24. The air, after passing the spring washers 24, passes around the reduced end 26 of the valve stem into a conduit 27which is connected by means of a suitable fltting 28 and piping 29 with the intake manifold of the internal combustion motor, this intake manifold not being shown.

The plunger 25 is operated by means of a diaphragm 30 which forms one wall of a chamber 31, the outer side of the diaphragm 30 being open to the atmosphere-through small channels 32 provided on the adjacent face of the body 5. The margin of the diaphragm 30 is held against the rim of the chamber 31 by means of a threaded ring 33 and a gasket 34 is also preferably provided between the ring 33 and the margin of the diaphragm 30. The diaphragm is secured at its center to the outer end of the plunger 25 in any suitable manner and a control passage 35 is provided between the conduit 27 and the chamber 31 so that'the pressure in the chamber 31 is always the same as the pressure in the intake manifold.

In operation, assuming the motor to be operating at low speed, the vacuum or depression in the intake manifold is very great and consequently the vacuum or depression in the chamber 31 is also very great and draws the diaphragm 30 inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3. This draws the plunger 25 inwardly and compresses the spring washers 24 so that they are moved tightly into engagement with one another and into engagement with the shoulder or valve seat 36 of the valve chamber 23. In this condition of the parts only a small amount of air is permitted to pass through the port 15, conduit 16, past the spring washers 24 and reduced end 26 of the plunger 25, into the conduit27 and through the line 29 to the intake manifold, and consequently only a small amount of oil or liquid will be picked up from the upper end of the tube 18 and drawn into the intake manifold.

As the motor speed increases the vacuum or depression in the intake'manifold decreases and consequently the vacuum or depression in the chamber 31 also decreases and the diaphragm 30 draws the plunger 25 out and decreases the pressure upon the spring washers 24 and their pressure against the valve seat 36. This permits a greater amount of air to pass from the conduit 16 to the conduit 27 and consequently a greater amount of air and oil will be fed to the intake manifold.

It has been found that by the use of these spring washers the oiler is very sensitive to slight variations in the vacuum or depression in the intake manifold and will accurately feed proportionately greater amounts of air and liquid as the motor speed increases. It has also been found that by the use of thin phosphorbronze washers this feed can be accurately controlled. By the use of phosphorbronze washers of approximately .003 inch gage stock the exact quantity of oil desired will be fed by the lubricator.

It is also obvious that the present invention lends itself to low cost production methods since no adjustments are required. Furthermore, by the elimination of all adjustments the lubricator cannot be tampered with by the owner of an automobile and will work at full efiiciency for a long period of time without getting out of order.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a conduit having a gas inlet at one end and adapted to be connected to an intake manifold or the like at its other end, means for charging the gas passing through said conduit with a liquid and means responsive to the differential between atmospheric pressure and the pressure in said manifold for regulating the amount of liquid admitted to said manifold through said conduit, comprising flexible valve means arranged in said conduit and controlling the flow of fluid through said conduit in accordance with the degree of deflection thereof, and a movable element imposing constant pressure on. said flexible valve means, said movable element being subject to atmospheric pressure on one side and intake manifold pressure on the other and being moved by the difl'erential between these pressures to impose varying pressures on said flexible valve means to deflect the same accordingly.

2. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a body forming a chamber having a gas inlet and an outlet, means actuated through the movement of the air passing through said chamber for charging said air with liquid, means adapted to connect said outlet with a manifold or the like and means for controlling the flow of gas through said chamber comprising flexible valve means freely floating in said conduit, a diaphragm carried by said body and having one side exposed to the atmosphere and enclosing a diaphragm chamber on its opposite side, said diaphragm chamber being in communication with said conduit at a point between said valve means and said manifold and means operatively connecting said diaphragm and said valve means whereby the movement of said diaphragm in response to the differential in pressure between the atmosphere and the intake manifold opens and closes said valve means.

3. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a body forming a chamber having a. gas inlet and an outlet, means actuated through the movement of the air passing through said chamber for charging said air with liquid, means adapted to connect said outlet with a manifold or the like and means for controlling the flow of gas through said chamber comprising valve means arranged in said conduit and controlling the flow of the charged gas therethrough, a diaphragm carried by said body and arranged entirely to one side of said valve means and having one side exposed to the atmosphere and enclosing a diaphragm chamber on its opposite side, said diaphragm chamber being in communication with said conduit at a point between said valve means and said manifold and a plunger guided in said body and operatively connecting said diaphragm and said valve means whereby the movement of said diaphragm in response to the differential in pressure between the atmosphere and the intake manifold opens and closes said valve means.

4. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a conduit having a gas inlet at one end and adapted to be connected with an intake manifold or the like at its other end, means for charging the gas passing through said conduit with a liquid, a plurality of flexible members arranged in said conduit and engaging one another and adapted, when flexed, to vary the flow of gas through said conduit and means responsive to variations in the pressure in said manifold for flexing said members tocontrol and regulate the supply of liquid admitted thereto.

5. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a conduit having a gas inlet at one end and adapted to be connected with an intake manifold or the like at its other end, means for charging the gas passing through said conduit with a liquid, a plurality of flexible members arranged in said conduit and engaging one another and adapted, when flexed, to vary the flow of gas through said conduit and means for flexing said members to control and regulate the supply of liquid admitted thereto.

6. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a conduit having a gas inlet at one end and adapted to be connected with an intake manifold or the like at its other end, means for charging the gas passing through said conduit with a liquid, said conduit being provided with a seat, a free floating spring disk engaging said seat and adapted, when flexed, to vary the flow of gas through said conduit and means responsive to the variations in pressure in said manifold for flexing said disk to control and regulate the supply of liquid laden gas passing through said conduit.

7. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a conduit having a gas inlet at one end and adapted to be connected with an intake manifold at its other end, means for charging the gas passing through said conduit with a liquid, a plurality of troughed spring disks arranged in said conduit some of said disks being arranged to face in opposite directions, said disks being adapted, when compressed, to retard the flow of gas through said conduit and means responsive to the variations in pressure in said intake manifold for compressing said disks to control and regulate the supply of liquid admitted thereto.

8. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a body formed to provide a chamber having a gas inlet and an outlet, means actuated through the movement of the air, passing through said chamber for chargingsaid air with liquid, means adapted to connect said inlet with a manifold or the like, and means for controlling the flow of gas through said chamber, comprising a seat formed therein, a plurality of troughed spring washers arranged against said seat, said washers having openings in their centers and some of said washers being arranged so that their concave faces face in opposite directions, said spring washers, when compressed against said seat, retarding the flow of gas passing through said chamber, a plunger engaging the center of the spring washer most remote from said seat and means for moving said plunger in response to variations in the pressure in said manifold.

9. A lubricator of the character described, comprising a body formed to provide a chamber having a gas inlet and an outlet, means actuated through the movement of the air passing through said chamber for charging said air with liquid, means adapted to connect said inlet with a manifold or the like, and means for controlling the flow of gas through said chamber, comprising a seat formed therein, a plurality of troughed spring washers arranged against said seat, said Washers having openings in their centers and some of said washers being arranged so that their concave faces face in opposite directions, said spring washers, when compressed against said seat, retarding the flow of gas passing through said chamber, a plunger engaging the center of the spring washer most remote from said seat and means for moving said plunger in response to variations in the pressure in said manifold comprising a diaphragm carried by said body and connected with said plunger, said diaphragm having one side exposed to the atmosphere and enclosing a diaphragm chamber on its opposite side, said diaphragm chamber being in communication with said intake manifold whereby the movement of said diaphragm in response to the differential in pressure between the atmosphere and the intake manifold compresses and releases said spring washers to vary and control the amount of liquid admitted to said intake manifold.

KENNETH E. BERRAY. 

